Oh, boy am I irritated. First thing this morning, between 4:30 and 5am, I could hear the wind gusting around our plumbing vents on the roof. Then I checked the local radar. No, Fay hadn't moved in 12 hours! As a matter of fact, in northern Osceola, the rain rate had increased.
So off to the All Fay All Day news. Durnit! not much other than a focus on the horrendous flooding in Brevard. Hey, I know it's bad... a huge number of people commute between the Orlando Metro area and the Space Coast every day. There's localized serious flooding between Kissimmee/Orlando and the Space Coast, effecting transportation and businesses.
Now I hear of gusts to 45mph in the Metro area. I thought the buses weren't supposed to run in winds over 30???
Why didn't Orange, Osceola and Lake (even 4 corners area of Polk) School districts pay attention to the very uncertain 5am update from NHC??
There are gusts over 30 and localized flooding in all of these districts. People are told if they don't HAVE to be out, don't go. But we're sending our kids out, knowing Fay will be passing back through this afternoon. I couldn't make my high schooler stand at the bus stop in the rain and wind. He'd look like a goofball going to school with soaked light khaki slacks and saturated footwear. Not to mention going across a heavily trafficked, narrow lakeshore causeway in a steel wind catcher.
So I drove him in. Why? Because we live in Metro Orlando, where 75% of all residents work in tourism and hospitality, where visitors don't care what your inconveniences are. That theme park, attraction, store or restaurant must be open to serve them.
Consider how silly they all felt when Tuesday's proactive approach turned out to be a bit overdone for the Metro. And when you compare our difficulties to our coastal bretheren, we're Chicken Littles.
Balance ... balance ...
How about we set an example and "excuse" those that perform some act of community service, rather than hope their cars don't get stuck in deep water or on a highway clogged because someone was driving too fast to get to their non-essential job (but essential to their bill collectors).
Maybe Florida needs to re-think it's lack of state labor laws and re-tool it to fit the realities of our geography and climatology.
Grrrrr.
Now look, I've gone on a rant. Perhaps this damn weather is getting to ALL of us!
No, it's not stir crazy, because I'm at work, not 'stuck' at home with a stir-crazy kid.
Fay may be 'just' a tropical storm, but it's workin' my last nerve!
